2018 FAF Year-in-Review

staff report, FAF

Thank you for supporting this year’s events and agenda. Here’s a list of of our greatest achievements this year:

FAF January Sunshine Luncheon in Tallahassee Honored FAF 2017 Sunshine Award Winners: Fane Lozman was honored with the Pete Weitzel/Friend of FAF award and Kenneth Weiss received the James C. Adkins/Sunshine Litigation Award. Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch were honored as the first recipients of the Lucy Morgan Award for Open Government Reporting.

FAF goes to the US Supreme Court for the very first time with a friend of the court brief in Lozman v Riviera Beach and WINS in an 8-1 ruling.

FAF is honored with the National American Library Eileen Cooke Award for excellence in championing access to government information and the public’s right to know in Washington, D.C.

FAF tracks over 113 bills dealing with Sunshine and open government during the 2018 Florida Legislative Session.

FAF letter to the City of Tallahassee demanding access to public record text messages on behalf of reporter Jeff Burlew resulted in the city settling its public record lawsuit with the Tallahassee Democrat.

Participated in a coalition of organizations monitoring the Constitutional Revision Commission and challenged the CRC for possible sunshine violations.

FAF President Barbara Petersen served on ACLU‘s Executive Director Search Committee, the only non-ACLU member of the seven-member committee.

Headed back to SCOTUS, having joined a coalition that filed an amicus brief supporting Mr. Bartlett in Nieves v. Bartlett, First Amendment/retaliatory action case similar to that of Mr. Lozman.

Filed a Friend of Court brief in support of Maggy Hurchalla who was hit with a $4.4m judgment in a SLAPP suit filed by a developer. FAF has also joined an appeal in a related case involving Hurchalla and the Everglades Law Center who were sued by the South Florida Water Management District when they made a public record request.

Annual Sunshine Manual YEAR-END SALE

All 2018 Government-in-the-Sunshine Manuals must go to make room for our 2019 Edition inventory. That’s why we are selling all remaining copies for ½ OFF at $10 per manual (actual retail price: $19.95). Take advantage of this once-a-year offer today —– we know your current copy has got notes and dog-ears all over it.

The First Amendment Foundation believes that government openness and transparency is critical to citizen trust and involvement in our democratic society – without Government in the Sunshine, civic engagement cannot bloom. Through ongoing monitoring of the state’s public records, open meetings laws, the education of government officials and citizens – the Foundation promotes the public’s constitutional right to oversee and to participate in the governance process.